Managing Mischief
by ThePacificIslander
Summary: Earlier that summer, Sirius Black had moved in with his best friend, James. James was already on the train, leaving Sirius outside to smoke one last cigarette before boarding. Now he was alone, looking for any of his other two friends. Remus was undoubtedly on the train, reading. Peter was just as likely right wherever James was.


**hey there. look, i'm not dead! and i'm writing something on here that isn't a oneshot! weird, isn't it?**

**anyways, i had an idea for this in the middle of the night. the marauders are my favorite people ever in harry potter. so, i'm going to write a fic  
**

**so this starts in the beginning of sixth year, and it'll have three of my otp's in it. c:**

**hope you people like it. i guess.  
**

* * *

"Remus!" Sarah Lupin yelled from the hallway. "Get up; you're going to be late!"

"Uhng," the sixteen-year-old Gryffindor grumbled. "I don't wanna…"

Remus Lupin, contrary to everyone else's belief, was most definitely not a morning person. He was generally able to avoid all times before seven o'clock, but today was an exception. Today was the day he would be going back to Hogwarts, and King's Cross station was almost a four hour drive from the Lupins' house.

Remus rolled over, which was a bad idea when one was already laying at the edge of the bed. He fell off, still entangled in blankets. "I'm up, I'm up!" he mumbled. "Shit."

His mother sighed loudly from outside the door, and Remus heard her footsteps clicking down the wooden stairs. He stood up with some difficulty and stretched.

"Ow," he hissed. The full moon had been only two days ago, and he was still sore and bruised. This moon had been particularly bad. Hell, all of the moons were awful; especially without his friends to stop him from hurting himself.

Remus yawned and dug around the mess that was his closet for clean Muggle clothes to wear. There wasn't much that wasn't already packed into his battered trunk, and rummaging through that was useless if Remus wanted to be on time for the train. "Thank Merlin," he muttered to himself, pulling a pair of jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt out of a forgotten box. Remus threw them on and ran a finger through his summer-long hair. "I need a haircut."

* * *

"Are you sure you've packed everything?" Peter's mum, Mary, asked with furrowed brows into the rearview mirror. Peter nodded and leaned his head on the cool window.

Thank Merlin they were almost to the station. Peter thought his mother was lovely, but two months alone with her would wear on anyone's nerves. She was a bit protective of him, and very prone to worrying. She had asked Peter if he was sure he had everything at least ten times.

Peter picked a piece of lint off his sleeve and flicked it at his feet. The top of King's Cross could be seen over all the other buildings. Peter's spirits rose; he couldn't wait to get to see his friends again. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen or talked to them all summer; James got everyone together for a Back to School Party a couple of weeks ago. He stayed the night, but Moony had to go home before midnight.

"We're here," Mary said wearily. "And you're _sure _you have _everything?" _

"Yes, Mum," Peter replied, smiling at her. She returned the smile weakly.

"Make sure to write," she reminded him. "You barely wrote me last year."

"I will, Mum. I'll write every week if you want me to."

Mary laughed and parked the car. Peter jumped out and pulled his trunk out of the backseat. His mother was quiet as she walked up to the gleaming doors of the station.

* * *

Sirius exhaled slowly, watching the smoke from his cigarette as it drifted through the air in front of him. People passing by glared at him for smoking, but he didn't care. He glanced at the clock.

"Shit," Sirius muttered. The clock read: 11:57. He picked up his trunk with careless ease and slipped onto Platform 9¾.

There, he was met with an explosion of noise. People were rushing about, trying to get on the train, saying last minute goodbyes. Children were crying; they didn't want their siblings to go without them. Parents were crying; they didn't want their children to leave for a whole school year.

Earlier that summer, Sirius Black had moved in with his best friend, James. James was already on the train, leaving Sirius outside to smoke one last cigarette before boarding. Now he was alone, looking for any of his other two friends. Remus was undoubtedly on the train, reading. Peter was just as likely right wherever James was.

Sirius caught the glimpse of familiar faces and scowled deeply. Familiar, but definitely not _friendly. _His parents were standing close to the train, shouting at a child, most likely Regulus. Sirius rolled his eyes and hurried to another compartment door, with his scowl still present as he boarded the train.

* * *

"Have you seen Padfoot?" James asked the boy sitting across from him with his head buried in a book. Remus shook his head and turned the page slowly. "The train's about to leave."

"He'll be here," Remus replied, still not taking his eyes off the book. "He likes messing with you."

James sighed and pulled his stolen snitch from his pocket. He looked at it and grinned before letting it go. The snitch's wings were almost invisible as it zoomed around the compartment.

"There he is!" Peter half-shouted, pointing to the glass door leading to the rest of the train.

James looked up and grinned at his best friend. "Long time no see," he said. Sirius returned the grin and threw himself down next to Remus.

"Hello, Moony, darling," Sirius sighed, pulling the book out of Remus' hands. He skimmed the page it was open to, frowned, and handed it back.

"Don't call me darling," Remus said darkly, scooting away from his fellow Marauder just as James caught the snitch.

"Good catch!" Peter congratulated. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I thought you got rid of that, Prongsie darling," Sirius scolded lightly. "You said that it would help you look better for your darling Lily."

"So you're calling _everyone_ darling now?" James raised his eyebrows. "I thought you said that I was the only person you called darling."

Sirius grinned and ran his fingers through almost shoulder-length hair. James caught the snitch and let it go again, making Peter clap and squeal with excitement.

"So how's Lily, darling?" Sirius inquired in a mock-curious voice. James shrugged.

"I asked her about her summer-" James began, finally putting the snitch back in his pocket and resting his elbows on his knees.

"Which you already did in the letters you sent her every week."

Scowling, he continued. "But she still didn't answer me."

Sirius pouted his lips and nodded 'sympathetically.' Remus rolled his eyes and closed his book. "I think," he stated, "that you should lay off. Lily's tired of you chasing after her, and maybe she'll be nicer to you if you weren't so…eager."

James sighed. It _was _a good idea, really. He just wasn't convinced that it would work. Lily had been fed up with him from Day One. Why would 'laying off' now help anything?

"So," he smiled, showing off straight, white teeth, "mates. Do you want to see the Map? Padfoot and I added something brilliant."

* * *

**yeah, it's short. i know. the chapters will get longer, i promise. 2,000 word minimum from now on, mmkay?**


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